Democrat file photo
St. Thomas’ Gabbi Dodier, front, battles Kingswood’s Delaney Hutchins for control of the ball during their match last month in Dover. Both teams are in the D-II tournament, which opens today.

DOVER — The St. Thomas Aquinas High School field hockey team wouldn’t necessarily say it’s cursed, but it is looking to break a recent string of bad luck in the state tournament.This will be the third time in four seasons St. Thomas has entered the postseason as the No. 2 seed. Last year, the Saints and No. 3 Bow played to a scoreless tie in the first half, but Bow scored twice early in the second and held on for a minor 2-1 upset in the D-II semis. In 2009, St. Thomas entered the postseason with a 13-1 record but were stunned at home by Kingswood in the quarterfinals. The Saints are looking to avoid a similar fate this year, as they look to capture their first championship since 2003.“That was definitely a mental game,” said St. Thomas senior defender Michelle Trainor, who was a freshman when the Saints were stunned by Kingswood. “We thought we had it. Then we realized we can’t give up a second. Every year it’s mental, but this year we realize we have to play our game.”St. Thomas (12-2) is once again seeded second, and will open tournament play on their home field Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host either No. 7 Plymouth (8-6) or No. 10 Hollis-Brookline (6-6-2). The Saints received a bye into the second round. Hollis-Brookline travels to Plymouth today. “We’re trying to stay field-hockey focused,” said St. Thomas coach Sara Carpenter. “We have our sights set on Saturday. We’re coming into every practice strong, figuring out what we have to do to win.”As far as the Saints’ recent tournament shortcomings are concerned, Carpenter said her team’s experience going deep in the 2011 tournament should help this year’s team.“Hopefully we don’t have an early exit,” Carpenter said. “All of our returners got a taste of the playoffs at the final-four level. That’s motivated us throughout the season. All the games we did lose, we felt confident that we could beat those teams. Which we did.”Indeed, the Saints avenged their only two losses this season. After falling 3-2 at home to Windham on Sep. 7, the Saints were 3-0 winners at Windham when the teams met a month later. It was the same thing against Oyster River, as the two teams swapped a pair of 1-0 decisions on their respective home fields.Windham (11-2-1) is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and is a potential semifinal opponent for the Saints.Gabbi Dodier leads St. Thomas with a school-record 19 goals, including one in a 2-0 win at Hollis-Brookline on Sept. 21. The Saints did not play Plymouth this season.“We’re confident being in second place, but we know it puts a target on our backs,” Dodier said. “We need to be ready for it. Any team can win at any time.”With a win on Saturday, St. Thomas will advance to the semifinals next Wednesday at Exeter (5 p.m.). The championship game is on Oct. 28 at noon in Bedford. The No. 1 seed in the tournament is Lebanon (12-1-1), whom the Saints did not face this season.The other local team in the D-II tourney is No. 9 Kingswood (6-6-2), which will visit rival No. 8 Kennett (7-6-1) this afternoon for the right to visit Lebanon in the quarters. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting in North Conway, but Kingswood prevailed 3-2 when the teams met three weeks later in Wolfeboro.In Division I, Dover is back in the tournament, this year as the No. 11 seed. The Green Wave (5-9) will travel to No. 6 Salem (8-4-2) on Thursday, 3:30 p.m. Dover coach M.J. Hippern said she has made a few lineup adjustments since the last time the two teams met, including moving midfielder Allison Brough from halfback to midfield.“She’s hungry to score,” Hippern said. “We’ve moved her up, so we’ll see how that goes. We’ve changed our lineup a little bit to generate more offense.”Dover lost 2-0 at Salem on Sept. 19.“When they get into the circle, they drive hard to get the ball in,” Hippern said about Salem. “They’re going forward nonstop and don’t let up. We’ll have to slow them down and make sure we’re marking up.”Should Dover survive Thursday, it will travel on Sunday to No. 3 Timberlane (11-2-1), which received a bye into the quarterfinals. The No. 1 seed in the tournament is Pinkerton (11-1-2), to whom the Green Wave fell in last year’s playoffs. The semifinals are Oct. 25 in Exeter and the championship is Oct. 28 at 2:30 p.m. in Bedford.The only local entrant in the Division III tournament was Somersworth (5-9-1), which earned the No. 15 but fell 9-0 on Tuesday at No. 2 Berlin (13-2). The No. 1 seed in D-III is Derryfield (14-1), which was a 5-0 winner over No. 16 Mascenic (4-10-1) in their first-round game. The championship is Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. in Bedford.